ADVENTURELAND Is Still With Me

On Tuesday I saw ADVENTURELAND for the first time. On Wednesday I blogged about it. Now it's a few days later and I'm still thinking about the movie, it's still playing in my mind and unravelling in my thoughts. There are songs in the movie that I love that I haven't heard in years, like "Unsatisfied" by The Replacements, but there are also songs like "Don't Dream It's Over" by Crowded House; a song that I always found annoying. But now I've heard it from a new perspective, filtered through the eyes of 'Adventureland' and now I can't get enough of it.

There is something no screenwriter or director can be taught. It's how to create something that will have the effect that 'Adventureland' is having on me right now. There's no formula for it. And, no doubt, there are people who will think this film sucks, and rightly so-- I'm not saying it's one of the greatest films ever, but maybe it is for me. The films I have been claiming to love recently are THE SOCIAL NETWORK and THE PUFFY CHAIR -- two very different movies, both great in their own way. But, when I think about it, they're just good movies. Very good movies. But they didn't connect with me in the way 'Adventureland' did.

But why? What is it? Is it because the film was set in my formative years? Is it because I can relate to the problems of the characters? Is it because I want the type of connection that Jesse Eisenberg and Kristen Stewart share in the movie? Or is it just because Greg Mottola and his team did such a great job and creating a world I could believe in and get sucked into for two hours?

I have no idea. If I was a film student, maybe I'd have an answer (they always do) - or perhaps if I was a more analytical blogger I'd be able to come up with some theory. But I don't have that, and luckily; I don't want that. I'm happy having this feeling-- a feeling where I'm watching every interview with the cast and crew I can find, and I'm listening to the soundtrack non-stop, and I'm telling every person I know to watch it, and I'm ordering multiple copies of the DVD and I'm going over memories of the movie in my head.

This is exactly WHY I love movies, and it's great to feel it again. As much as the reason I love movies is to get this feeling, the sad fact is that --- it's extremely RARE. But right now, before I ruin it by watching the film thirty times over, it's truly magic; and I am aware again of the awesome power of the cinema. It gets to have this effect, on people. That's something to strive for, someone to hope for; and that's something to be excited about.

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ADVENTURELAND Is Something Special

So, your life must be utter shit or you wouldn't be here.
It's two o'clock in the morning. I'm tired and I have a headache. But I had to turn my laptop on and write. I just watched ADVENTURELAND; for the second night in a row. I have no idea what I want to write, I just know that I have to. This is how I know it's a great movie. When you start figuring out clever things to write in your blog midway through a film, then you know it sucks. 

'Adventureland' is about being in your teens or in your early twenties, at that stage when you're trying to figure your life out whilst surviving a bullshit job and falling in and out of love. Pretty much as soon as we love movies about these topics we begin to hate them and look for something more meaningful-- just like in real life. We're young people in dead end jobs for our whole lives but we're only really open and honest about it at the beginning -- at the age the characters in this movie are portraying. We spent the rest of life being grown up, pretending we have it figured out, refusing to dance the dance of emotion and love and lust and pain. We're only reminded of how big a part of ourselves these things are when we see a piece of art like 'Adventureland.'

Don't you just love that movies like this exist? That the guy who directed SUPERBAD (Greg Mottola) can follow it up with something so understated and honest. Who'd have thought? And who'd have believed that the girl from TWILIGHT would follow it up with something like this? While we're on the subject, it's important to say: Kristen Stewart is amazing. Everyone seems to hate her now because she's in these big blockbusters and because she doesn't smile and act like a whore every time her agent forces her onto television to do promotion or every time a group of journalists interrupt her holiday abroad to see if she's still with her boyfriend. We seem to hate her for the fact that she just likes to act, just likes to do her job. But she's something special. She's great in INTO THE WILD and IN THE LAND OF THE WOMEN and she does a solid job in TWILIGHT, but it's in films like this one where you really get to see what she's capable of. And what is it she's capable of? Honesty. Subtlety. Humanity. I can't help but watch her and feel like I know her. Or feel like I knew her, like we went to school together. She knows what acting is, she knows what her job is; and she does it with a grace and skill that is rare.

But then, so does Jesse Eisenberg. What I love about him on screen, whether it's in 'Adventureland' or THE SOCIAL NETWORK is that he just knows how to be himself. And of course, actors get criticised for 'always being themselves' but people don't realize how tough that is. Most actors spend their whole careers trying to be someone else because they haven't got a clue how to be themselves. These guys know how to do it and the results are incredible. Watching Eisenberg and Stewart in this movie; we get to really see the characters, we get to really feel something real; and as a result, we get to see ourselves.

You might think you're watching a bunch of young people working at a theme park but what you're really seeing is yourself back when you worked in that store, or at that leisure center or at that bowling alley or wherever the hell it was back when you kept falling in and out of love whilst trying to figure out what the hell you were going to do with your life. This is a movie about you and it's a movie about me. It's a film that dares to be honest and dares to be small.




They struggled to market this movie. It had the 'elements' like the big actors and the hotshot writer/director -- but there was a problem: it had a story, and it had heart. How the fuck do you market something like that? The problem is, you can't. You can't market heart. If a good heart was an easy sell then all the lonely people on dating sites tonight would be out there falling in love. But it's not that easy. Good heart doesn't sell well. It's hard to recognize, and people will misunderstand it and people won't be expecting it. You have to just do it, be it, create it. Heart will find its way eventually. Films like 'Adventureland' sneak up on you when you don't expect it. They are disguised as typical studio comedies and they're generally thrown out in cinemas and swiftly dumped because no-one really knows they exist or they know they exist but have been sold some bullshit by a trailer that made the movie seem like some contrived, typical junk.

But 'Adventureland' exists. And it's a little slice of magic.Thank you, Greg Mottola.

Wait, Em -- I think, I maybe see you a little differently than-than you see yourself. Yes, I-I see the person who fucked up but I.. I also see the person who saved me from being knifed over a giant-ass-panda.

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Giving Myself Permission To Watch Films

I'm not sure when I got like this. One minute I was 14 and watching four movies a day. The next thing you know I'm quite a bit older and any time I watch a movie I feel guilty. Like I'm being unproductive. For me, watching a movie is like a weird, complex and secretive thing I have to do at times my inner critic will allow. It's like this.

Inner Critic: Dude, you can't sit around watching movies.

The Kid: Okay, but it's 3am! You can't expect me to be productive at three AM, can I watch a movie now?

Inner Critic: Ssssh, I'm napping.

And so I watch a movie at 3am. Or today. Today I am getting paid to edit. But, the first part of this job is uploading and converting. Which takes hours. So I was able to have some permission.

IC: Dude, do your job.

Kid: It's uploading, and converting, and all that stuff.

IC: Then work on your script.

Kid: I am not in the frame of mind for that, whilst I'm doing the other job.

IC: Find a location for the movie you're doing.

Kid: I'm editing.

IC: Hmm. But it's converting.

Kid: So I should watch a movie.

IC: That's not working.

Kid: Work is being done. I'll sneak in a movie. 1pm till 3pm. It's fine.

IC: Okay, fine. Be like that.

And that's how it's done. When did I get so insane? The truth of the matter is: I NEED movies. I need to watch them. I need to sit there and sink into the wonderful world of a good story and fascinating characters. But I give myself a hard time getting there.

Yesterday, I did a long job in the freezing cold in the middle of a field and it was all handheld and my equipment was getting ruined by torrential rain and it was all a bit insane. But it was hard work, and I got paid well, so my inner-critic went on vacation.

So when I got home, I felt like my day had value. I was able to watch a movie guilt free. I watched "ADVENTURELAND" and had the most fun I've had with a movie in about a year. But this is what I do to myself.

It's funny because; I do a lot of inner critic work and positive thinking and personal development and all that stuff -- but this issue, of film watching guilt still arises. It could be a negative thing, or maybe it's the part of me that makes sure I do a good day's work. I give myself a hard time and it leads to me watching a lot of films for seventeen minutes before turning them off so I can go and work on a script or whatever; but maybe it's a good thing; I watch less films now, but when I see them: I've really earned it. Like "THANK YOU FOR SMOKING" just now, or "ADVENTURELAND" last night.

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Blogger Issues

Whenever I change my fonts, i.e. font type or font color, by the time I preview or post the changes, it reverts back to the original look. i.e. - when posting an interview it won't allow me to use different color's for the questions. Or when writing dialogue, it won't let me use the Courier font. Does anyone have any clue what the hell is going on? How will I survive this ordeal?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

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TRACY CLIFTON - Actor Interview

TRACY CLIFTON is an actress. A very good one who has done a lot of great work, but you probably don't know her. Tracy is like most of the actors in the industry-- doing the best she can each day to find her way in a challenging, unpredictable, and highly competitive industry.

I'm interviewing Tracy because a) I think she's wonderful and I want you all to know about her, and b) Because she represents the bigger, silent majority of actors, who are doing the best they can each day to have a great career and find work that inspires them.

There are a billion actresses out there, and they all want the same roles as you. How do you stay sane?

I was taught this very simple concept by my favorite acting professor in college: Go into every audition thinking, "Here's what I have to give. Can you use it?" And that's how I go into every.single.audition. I have a gift - the gift of being me, in all my spazziness, my enthusiasm, my eyes that change color depending on my mood, my knife fighting skills, my dark sense of humor. Can they use any, or all of it, for the role I'm auditioning for? If the answer is Yes, then great! That's wonderful! We're both blessed by me being hired. If the answer is No, we can't use what you have to give right now, then I don't need to be there, and I don't want to be some place where I'm not needed.

This keeps me sane every day of the week - and keeps me from ever taking it too personally (or getting caught up in the ridiculousness that is being an actress.)

As an upcoming actor - you want roles, but I'm sure you also want to do good, interesting work. So, how important is a good script to you?

A good script and a good actor create a great partnership (American History X, LA Confidential, Children of Men, 40 Year Old Virgin, etc.) but you can still have a bad script with good actors (X-Men 3, Speed, Bad Boys 1 and 2, and most slasher flicks); but it's hard to pull off anything with bad acting. So when looking at a script, I drop the judgment. I'm never going to blame a bad performance of mine on a script because a good actor should sell, and make believable, a bad script any day of the week. Do all actors want the chance to act in movies like The Godfather, Good Will Hunting, The Insider, American Beauty, Pulp Fiction, American History X, etc? Yes. But let's remember this: Star Wars didn't have the best script. But the actors sold it and never turned up their noses, or dialed it in because it wasn't good writing. They found ways to make it work through their performances. And because of that, it's freakin' awesome. So I would say - while it's a nice perk to have a good script, I don't turn down bad scripts. Those are the challenges (and I don't back down from challenges.)

Do you think there are as many interesting roles out there for women compared to men?

I don't, honestly, but instead of complaining about it (which I've probably done on your blog, Kid) I want to change the industry. Not necessarily with a "Mrs. Smith goes to Hollywood" kind of idealism, but with an attitude of: women are just as complex as men. And their stories deserve to be told. Women don't have to be defined by their relationships the way they are portrayed in films (she's the Daughter! Sister! Mother! Bride! Whore! Virgin!) but can be the heroes of their own journeys, being fallible and human while still being fascinating to watch. I would also like to see the industry move away from its fascination with torture-porn and punishing women for wearing tank tops in dark forests, but that's another interview altogether, I think. :)

I would also say that the industry is getting better about this every day - from strong female roles created by Hilary Swank, Ellen Page, Christina Hendricks, Maggie Q, et al, to more thoughtful high school comedies/dramadies that take a girl's point of view into account, such as "Juno," "Easy A" with Emma Stone, or even "Jennifer's Body" with Megan Fox.

What one quality makes you awesome as an actress?

I like to think it's a quality that makes me an awesome person too - I'm a very good listener. I don't just wait for my co-actors to finish speaking while thinking, "Okay, my line's next! My line is next!" but really try to focus on listening to what is being communicated. I like to think this keeps my own performance on its toes because I'll never know what line will really affect me each time, so nothing is fake or forced (As David Mamet said: invent nothing, deny nothing.) Also, I like to think I have some kick ass comedic timing.

Okay, I'm done giving myself compliments. Two is enough.

Everyone wants a 'successful' career --- but what does success mean to you?

Success means doing what I love, and earning enough money at it to not be scared when I have to pay my bills each month. I'm serious, though - I don't need to be a millionaire, I don't need everyone to know my name. I just want to get up every morning and go to work, feeling useful, creative, and as if I'm putting the gifts I've been given to good use. Who could ask for anything more?

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